Heterotopian Spaces: A Foucauldian Reading of Ian McEwan’s Nutshell

Melit, Ilham; Chaabane, Mohamed Ali

المجلة الجزائرية للأبحاث والدراسات
Volume 6, Numéro 4, Pages 255-267
2023-10-31

Heterotopian Spaces: A Foucauldian Reading Of Ian Mcewan’s Nutshell

Authors : Melit Ilham . Chaabane Mohamed Ali .

Abstract

This study aimed at a textual analysis of a womb as a heterotopia in Ian McEwan’s Nutshell (2016). To achieve the research’s aim, spatial examination was utilized. Many theorists have argued for a switch in the previous century towards the study of place over time in the field of humanities. The former is known today as ‘the spatial turn’. Michel Foucault presented the concept of ‘heterotopia’ after he proposed that “the present epoch will perhaps be above all the epoch of space” (Foucault & Miskowiec, 1986, p. 1). According to him heterotopias are these places that are different from all the ones (Foucault & Miskowiec, 1986, p. 4). The current study relied on Foucault’s heterotopian reading to classify the site of the womb as a heterotopian one. Nutshell was chosen for analysis which depended heavily on textual examination. Therefore, the latter then classified the womb as a heterotopia with Foucauldian elaborations.